I came back to the UK to finish my degree, did an intensive practical 1-year course in TV, film, radio, theatre, acting, singing, dancing and then went back out to Hong Kong, with my future husband in tow, to find work.

I began with a job as a camera operator and I went on to work in the industry for 10 years. My final position was Head of Production for an independent production house, which I loved.

Something Needed To Change

However, the long days, the stress, the coffee, the night living, the alcohol, the no-sleep working on live events for 5-days in a row, started to take it’s toll by my mid-30’s.

In the media, you were paid big bucks by corporate companies to make them look good. I wasn’t happy about making all the big companies we worked with look good. I didn’t agree with everything they stood for, the things they supported or made money from. It really bothered me. Without mentioning names, I produced a video funded by a huge hotel company. They spoke about how they supported conservation, however, in the construction of the huge hotel we stayed in, they managed to destroy one of the biggest turtle breeding grounds on the island. I just couldn’t keep doing this.

So, mid thirties, what was I to do? I loved to learn and I wanted a career where I got better the older I got, that was ethical and morally just, that kept me on my toes, was challenging, and was different every day?

Natural Medicine which I loved! Boom! Bright light moment!

I looked at courses and chose a recommended and highly regarded college and course in Sydney Australia.

So new country, 36 years old, new life, getting rid of the old ways and the old me, and becoming a brand new person. Sounds idyllic right? Well, wrong. My pride hurt for a start, where I was ‘something’, making money, living in the perfect house on my own, being 100% independent, living a certain lifestyle and with years living in a certain comfort zone, suddenly it was gone.

In my eyes I was now poor, a student, a nobody, paying a premium for a flat share, in part time work, either learning to become a coffee barrister, or getting shouted at by a horrible woman in an organic juicing shop because I was putting vegetables in the blender in the wrong order…

I had really bad experiences with flat mates. I started to believe it was all me, my fault, it was all doom and gloom and got myself in a terrible place. As a result my periods stopped and I put on 3 stone in weight. All this despite being on a nutrition course, supposedly having all the answers and living by the ocean in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I felt like a fake and wanted to hide forever.

But things move forward and I finally found an amazing place to work and an amazing lady to live with. Things started to resolve but I felt ‘damaged’ and felt extremely fragile. I wanted to be alone. I worked in a yoga centre alongside 18 complementary medicine practitioners from acupuncture, councillors, herbal medicine practitioners, remedial massage therapists and I was ‘kept’ afloat by this team of amazing people. I excelled at the course and loved every piece of new knowledge and understanding I discovered.

Learning nutritional medicine was a big slap for me, a huge eye opener. I thought I knew it all already. Throughout the course, they stripped you of all your longstanding beliefs about nutrition and herbs, and taught you from scratch, laying the foundations to creating a qualified and competent practitioner, confident in making the best decisions for the person in their care. I was in class 20 hours a week. This included clinic time. As an international student you had to have far more face-to-face time than a regular student. The study time was another 20 hours per week. However, learning what I loved was also the best thing in the world!